HPD Eyes Crime On Port Road
Open-Door Parties Still An Issue
Posted: November 23, 2012
HARRISONBURG — A troubling spike in violent crime at apartment complexes and parking lots along Port Republic Road in recent weeks has caught the attention of Harrisonburg police.
The area from Forest Hill Road to near the city’s southeastern limits is lined with off-campus housing units and a handful of shops and restaurants that cater to students from nearby James Madison University.
Bridgewater resident Lynn McNett has seen the result of the recent crime wave firsthand. Her son and his friend, both in their early 20s, were attacked Nov. 4 in the parking lot of the Food Lion shopping center at the corner of Peach Grove Avenue and Port Republic.
The men were returning to their car after attending a party at a nearby complex when they were assaulted. McNett’s son’s friend suffered serious facial injuries that required surgery.
The suspect in that attack is described as a black male, between 6 feet 3 inches and 6 feet 5 inches tall, and weighing about 300 pounds. The suspect left the scene with several other people in a silver-colored, late-model Ford pickup, police say.
“The safety of the people of our town is a big concern,” McNett said. “It just wasn’t a punch in the face. We need to make people aware.”
Lt. Chris Rush of the Harrisonburg Police Department said that in the last four weeks officers have responded to the area on calls for at least two assaults, a rape, a robbery, reports of shots fired and several burglaries.
The most violent attack came just more than a month ago.
Police say that early on the morning of Oct. 20, a 22-year-old woman was raped at knifepoint in the 1400 block of Bradley Drive in the Hunters Ridge complex, located off Port Republic Road. Two Harrisonburg teens were arrested nearby shortly after police arrived on the scene and are facing charges of sexual assault and armed robbery.
The most recent violent attack in the area occurred last weekend.
Early Sunday morning, police responded to The Commons in the 800 block of Port Republic Road to find a man lying unconscious in the breezeway of an apartment building. The victim was taken to Rockingham Memorial Hospital, where he was treated for facial injuries, police say.
As officers were investigating the assault, they arrested Raymond Eugene Hamilton III, 22, of Harrisonburg, for felony possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
While police can’t pinpoint an exact reason for the spike in crime, they say they’re still battling a long-standing problem: people from outside the Shenandoah Valley attending open-door parties at the complexes and looking for trouble.
Four years ago, Staunton resident Reginald “Shay” Nicholson, 19, was mortally shot as he left a party at Hunters Ridge, marking the city’s first official gang-related murder. While police say that Nicholson was not involved with gangs, the four men who were convicted for their roles in his murder were.
Rush, who is now commander of HPD’s criminal investigations division, said the murder changed how police view the college party scene.
“It was kind of an eye-opener to the danger that go along with these parties,” he said. “Their goal is to come here, party and prey on college students.”
Contact Pete DeLea at 574-6278 or pdelea@dnronline.com
The area from Forest Hill Road to near the city’s southeastern limits is lined with off-campus housing units and a handful of shops and restaurants that cater to students from nearby James Madison University.
Bridgewater resident Lynn McNett has seen the result of the recent crime wave firsthand. Her son and his friend, both in their early 20s, were attacked Nov. 4 in the parking lot of the Food Lion shopping center at the corner of Peach Grove Avenue and Port Republic.
The men were returning to their car after attending a party at a nearby complex when they were assaulted. McNett’s son’s friend suffered serious facial injuries that required surgery.
The suspect in that attack is described as a black male, between 6 feet 3 inches and 6 feet 5 inches tall, and weighing about 300 pounds. The suspect left the scene with several other people in a silver-colored, late-model Ford pickup, police say.
“The safety of the people of our town is a big concern,” McNett said. “It just wasn’t a punch in the face. We need to make people aware.”
Lt. Chris Rush of the Harrisonburg Police Department said that in the last four weeks officers have responded to the area on calls for at least two assaults, a rape, a robbery, reports of shots fired and several burglaries.
The most violent attack came just more than a month ago.
Police say that early on the morning of Oct. 20, a 22-year-old woman was raped at knifepoint in the 1400 block of Bradley Drive in the Hunters Ridge complex, located off Port Republic Road. Two Harrisonburg teens were arrested nearby shortly after police arrived on the scene and are facing charges of sexual assault and armed robbery.
The most recent violent attack in the area occurred last weekend.
Early Sunday morning, police responded to The Commons in the 800 block of Port Republic Road to find a man lying unconscious in the breezeway of an apartment building. The victim was taken to Rockingham Memorial Hospital, where he was treated for facial injuries, police say.
As officers were investigating the assault, they arrested Raymond Eugene Hamilton III, 22, of Harrisonburg, for felony possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
While police can’t pinpoint an exact reason for the spike in crime, they say they’re still battling a long-standing problem: people from outside the Shenandoah Valley attending open-door parties at the complexes and looking for trouble.
Four years ago, Staunton resident Reginald “Shay” Nicholson, 19, was mortally shot as he left a party at Hunters Ridge, marking the city’s first official gang-related murder. While police say that Nicholson was not involved with gangs, the four men who were convicted for their roles in his murder were.
Rush, who is now commander of HPD’s criminal investigations division, said the murder changed how police view the college party scene.
“It was kind of an eye-opener to the danger that go along with these parties,” he said. “Their goal is to come here, party and prey on college students.”
Contact Pete DeLea at 574-6278 or pdelea@dnronline.com